Sapporo!?!

Despite my long-time interest in Japanese culture and history (and food!), I do not know a lot about the city of Sapporo. When I hear the name exactly two things come to mind:

Ramen and beer. Two essential staples of the undergrad diet. I have also had the Sapporo Ichiban song stuck in my head for awhile now. (Sapporo Ichiban, easy to do. Pour in hot water, it's ready for you - sing with me!) As I am sure there is more to Sapporo than their tasty exports, it is time for me to hit the books. If any of our dear readers have suggestions for must-sees, please pass them along. With only two weeks until our departure (eek!), there is a lot to learn, a lot to organize, and a lot of kanji to review.

And so it begins...

Yesterday was the start of something amazing...for us it marks the beginning of a journey into a new cultural experience and a new understanding of "teacher-hood." The four of us met around a table at Starbucks and booked our tickets for our student exchange to Japan...we depart May 12th and return on the 8th of June.

This blog is our invitation to you to see Japan through our eyes, hear the buzz of culture through our thoughts and experience our exchange alongside us...our excitement is evident, energy is present and impatience to begin our journey is looming...

We are ready...

Hokkaido Inquiry?

As we have been getting ready for this trip, we were asked to bring questions and curiosities to light, in order to help us prepare. I forgot to mention one thing that I'd really like to do while I'm in Hokkaido. Public bathing is a common practice in Japan, and something I really enjoyed the last time I was there. Onsen is the name for the most touristy and popular hot springs, where there will be (always?) an outdoor portion of the bathhouse, where the bathers can enjoy some scenic view while they relax. In Hokkaido, this is taken to a new level because of the island's stunning scenery and permanent residents - MONKEYS!

I'm not sure that they will let me in... lol

Now I'm not sure if it's likely, possible, or probable, but I'd like to at least see this spectacle, in addition to visiting some remote and really picturesque hot springs. Since onsen bathing is a fairly popular part of Japanese culture, I'm sure we'll all at least get an opportunity to try it. How much we like it is up to us individually. ^^

Beautiful view from a beautiful space. I can't wait to go for a dip!

So we booked our tickets to Sapporo. We will be leaving on May 12 2011. We met this morning at Starbucks to plan and book the flights. There was definitely an air of excitement as we booked the flights. Now we can start to get ready.

Jon

Preparing for the trip

I'm getting really excited to travel to Japan. I'm already thinking about what I'll need to pack and what I'll need to buy. As a Christmas gift last year, my partner teacher from Killarney Elementary gave me a gift card to Chinook Mall, so I went yesterday to find something of value for my trip. As a typical nerd, I was trapped by stores like The Source, and ended up buying a sound/voice recorder.

I have lived in Japan before, and came to the conclusion that something I wish I had had for my last trip was some sort of sound recording device. The sounds and music and conversations of a Japanese school can be really amazing, and I didn't want to miss another opportunity to capture some really unique. In particular, I remember a case of visiting a small rural elementary in Wakayama city, and stumbling across a room filled of students. They were playing the classic European dance song "Numa Numa Yay" (I don't know the proper name, but most people know it by this one!^^) on xylophones and marimbas. Only once I had walked into the room did I realize that this performance was taking place without a single teacher present nor a conductor. The students of this tiny 'music club' had taken on the challenge, and were able to play the piece even without MUSIC! Really amazing, and something that I was I had captured with a simple mp3 recorder. Well, never again! lol



Thank you Mrs. Caldwell!  ^^



Simple Beginnings

Hello everyone!



This is the first post on our group blog to document our travels to Hokkaido Japan this coming May. There will be four education majors traveling to Sapporo to take part in our half of a student exchange program between the two universities, and creating this blog will hopefully help serve to support future trips like it.



 Hopefully in the coming weeks, this blog will be a way for us four to share the benefits of the exchange with the university community, and for us to better understand what we are learning from our exposure to Japanese educational practice and culture. Besides our personal jourals and journeys, we also hope to share pictures and observations of the schools we are able to visit, and the friendships we will hopefully forge.

I'd like to thank the administration at the University of Calgary - particularly Mr. Gavin Peat - for maintaining and supporting the work of TAB (Teaching Across Borders) and exchanges such as this one.





This is me in 2009 when I visited the town of Beppu on Kyushu island.